Quincy puts the kibosh on wine with paprikash Bud, Bud everywhere but no Tokaji at Anna's Kitchen

from NewsLink, Vol. 7, No. 1 Fall 2002

Walk into Anna's Hungarian Kitchen in West Quincy and you will discover the rare charm of an authentic Eastern European restaurant. Once inside this personable eatery, almost hidden in a strip mall, you will find Anna Debreczeni behind the counter preparing dishes such as Tokaji wine cream soup, Wienerschnitzel, stuffed cabbage, zesty chicken paprikash or the signature goulash. For those seeking to expand their culinary tastes, Annaís Hungarian Kitchen is the place to visit. Schooled in her native Hungary, Annaís cuisine hasnít gone without notice. The well-noted dining connoisseur, The Phantom Gourmet says the menu makes it the best Hungarian cuisine in New England. Itís a favorite of the Hungarian consul and draws clients from as far as Rhode Island. Members of the MIT Hungarian Social Club are regular patrons. Anna started the restaurant with her husband, Charles in May 2000. Since then they have relied on word of mouth to build a clientele. A refugee from the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, Charles Debreczeni is a 33-year resident of Quincy. He defers all matters of cuisine to his award-winning wife. A former machine shop owner, Debreczeni thought the restaurant business was a natural. ìI felt that it was the best place my wife can earn a living,î he recalls. He places an emphasis on service. Most of the time he holds forth as a maitre 'd providing some lively conversation. "I tell them all my problems," he quips. The Debreczenis' biggest problem lately is trying to secure a beer and wine license. Debreczeni says that his patrons would like to enjoy wine or beer with their ethnic meal. He says many people are turned off by the fact the restaurant doesn't serve wine. In fact to be competitive most restaurants seek to enhance the dining experience with beer, wine or after-dinner liquors. "Part of the Hungarian food experience is enjoying a good Tokaji with a meal," he says. But the City of Quincyís Board of Licensing Commissioners -- citing public safety concerns -- denied the family a license in June 2001. The board said the city of Quincy already had issued enough licenses within a mile of Anna's Kitchen. Debreczeni says the entire effort is unfair, pointing to other restaurants that have been granted licenses in other sections of Quincy. But the city countered that vehicular traffic on Willard Street and the lack of parking spaces were other reasons for denying a license. However, Debreczeni says that by granting him a common victualerís license, the authorities believed at the time that parking was sufficient for his type of business. An appeal to the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission was subsequently denied in December 2001. The state agency found that the licensing commissioners did not act capriciously in its ruling. Still convinced that he was treated unfairly, Debreczeni plans to re-apply for a liquor license later this year. Who's really opposed Debreczeni says local opposition to his application was non-existent. Heís never had any problems with the local health department. And, he says, local residents support his application; more than 100 signed a petition in favor. Like most small business in Massachusetts and elsewhere, Anna's Kitchen faces a wide array of red tape and politically connected opposition when presenting plans to expand. Moreover they face enormous legal costs in mounting challenges to rulings they may deem unfair. Given the opposition and resources at the disposal of public officials, most businesses stop there. In doing so they often pass up on the opportunity to expand rather than spend thousands on legal fees. Debreczeni actually put his restaurant up for sale after the first vote hoping to find another location but then reconsidered. The real opposition says Debreczeni is his landlord, Bruce Wood. In testimony before the licensing board Wood said that the Debreczeni family pledged to continue the operation as a breakfast and lunch restaurant. "I find it hard to understand what direction heís going, why he came there with the intention of making something other than a breakfast/lunch restaurant,î he explained at the board hearing on June 12, 2001. "As the landlord, I don't think we need another beer and wine license or liquor license in Quincy." Up to now the difference of opinion rested in an interpretation of the lease. Debreczeni maintains that the lease allows him to run a breakfast, lunch and supper establishment, arguing that the owner leased the property with the understanding that it would be more than breakfast and lunch. Debreczeni says it shouldnít solely be up to the landlord to determine whether Anna's Kitchen can have a liquor license. As the application wended its way through the city and state regulatory system, Debreczeni decided to let his patrons bring their own bottle of wine or beer. BYOB isn't against the state's liquor control law, Chapter 138. But upon learning from a favorable restaurant review in a local newspaper that Annaís Kitchen was allowing BYOB, city officials sternly warned Debreczeni about the policy. As did his landlord. The problem is however that there isnít a stated policy. And there's no record of when one was definitively applied. Chapter 138 doesn't prohibit BYOB. Thus what Anna's Kitchen did wasnít against the law. It is here that Debreczeni decided to open another battlefront. He challenged the Board of Licensing Commissioners, saying the city violated the open meeting law and never enacted any rule or regulation concerning BYOB. Correspondence from the city's Solicitor claimed that Quincy enacted a law in 1995. Furthermore, said the solicitor, since no vote was taken the open meeting law doesnít apply. But it took Debreczeni months to receive an updated letter.Debreczeni is convinced that the Board of Commissioners backpedaled. On October 2, 2001, the board voted affirmatively to ban BYOB in Quincy. The action was deemed a measure to clarify the boardís interpretation of the stateís liquor control law. Debreczeni questions whether that board even has the right to make such a change ó saying that power should rest with the city council. But in a telephone interview, Joseph Shea, Chairman of the Board of Licensing Commissioners, says the board has always had the authority to write rules. Right after the vote, Debreczeni alleged he faced harassment by the police department. He believes that his restaurant was singled out for visits by a liquor control police officer because of his attempts to secure a license. A letter from an assistant district attorney for Norfolk County to the city solicitor appears to support Debreczeni's argument. But the Norfolk DA's office never pursued the complaint, suggesting to Debreczeni that he bring a civil lawsuit on the issue of the open meeting law. But such a move would be costly. Today no alcohol is consumed on the property and Debreczeni is thinking about re-applying for a license. Part of a larger problem? In responding to the Norfolk District Attorney's office, the Quincy City Solicitor said to allow any other interpretation of the stateís liquor control law would cause the board "not to control the consumption of alcoholic beverages in public places." However, recent events appear to undermine the claims of the controlling authority. As Debreczeni ponders his next move, the US Attorney's Office and the FBI have launched a far-reaching corruption probe into the relationship between private companies and public projects in Quincy. Recently, the US Attorney's Office subpoenaed documents relating to the St. Moritz Social Club, seeking information on all contracts, permits, licenses, and other information going back to January 1, 1990. The club was operating without a liquor license and serving members after hours. In late October 2002 lawyers for St. Moritz showed up to apply for a liquor license. On October 30, the licensing board voted unanimously to suspend the permit for the social club, which was paying rent to a former plumbing inspector, Ralph J. Maher. Maher was indicted for breaking into City Hall to change his personnel record. Investigators are looking into a loan Maher made to a developer with ties to organized crime. Meanwhile, according to the Boston Herald, police "are trying to determine who in City Hall knew the club had no liquor license." The FBI is also interested in St. Moritzís licensing status. Thus as Quincy city government wallows in scandal, it blithely throws up roadblocks to a businessman's attempt to make a living and to offer something out of the ordinary to metro area diners. The Quincy dining scene offers plenty of Bud to wash down a plate of buffalo wings or some tired pasta dish. But let a restaurant owner offer a handful of customers some Tokaji to go with their chicken paprikash, and the city's guardians of gastronomic mediocrity will put him out of business in a blink of an eye. Put it down as another shabby episode in the annals of bureaucratic obstructionism combined with a dash of resistance to anything remotely exotic. NewsLink is the quarterly newsletter of the Beacon Hill Institute for Public Policy Research at Suffolk University. © 1996-2003. All rights reserved. HTML format revised on 7/3/03 12:07 PM